Tag: Phil Davis

With Bellator, Glory, RFA, WSOF, XFC, and damn-near any promotion *not* named UFC all holding events over the weekend, there was simply too much action for one understaffed and grossly underpaid MMA outlet to cover. So rather than give you long and boring results recaps of each event (that you’ve already read elsewhere), we’re going to bring you the cream of the crop, the highlights of the highlights, in the form of these gifs, vines, and videos from each event. Capiche?

We begin with easily the most horrifying gif of the bunch, taken from Saturday’s XTreme Fighting Championships International 11 in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Just over a minute into a featherweight contest between Guilherme Faria and Missael Silva de Souza Falcao Feijao dos Santos Ruiz (or simply Silva for short), Faria unleashed a monster left hand that zombified his opponent, leaving Silva with the worst knockout face since that one Asian “Faces of Death” kickboxer. Had Silva opted to enjoy a post-fight wank session, there’s not a doubt in my mind that this gif would already have a Potato Award locked up.

Check out a plethora of uber-violent gifs from WSOF, Bellator, and more after the jump.

The UFC showcase on FOX returns tonight for its 14th installment, featuring a huge light heavyweight title eliminator on deck. Alexander Gustafsson will be looking to book his rematch against Jon Jones, as he dukes it out against rising contender Anthony Johnson in the five-round main event inside Tele2 Arena in Stockholm, Sweden. The winner of this bout will most likely square off against the champion later this year.

Since being TKO’d by Glover Teixeira in September 2013, Bader has scored three consecutive unanimous decision wins against Anthony Perosh, Rafael Cavalcante, and Ovince St. Preux. Davis most recently outpointed Teixeira last month at UFC 179, which followed a decision loss to Anthony Johnson, who is main-eventing the 1/24 card against Alexander Gustafsson, who lost to Phil Davis back in 2010, before they became buddies. Basically, everybody in the UFC light-heavyweight division has shared bodily fluids at this point.

Below: Aldo and Mendes are interviewed after the bout, and the champ discusses the late-punches controversy at the end of round 1. Aldo lands a great diss on Conor McGregor — “I’m the king, Chad’s the prince, and now we have a joker” — while Mendes just promises to kick McGregor’s ass.

UFC 179: “Aldo vs. Mendes 2” proved to be exactly what we expected it to be, and that was a one-fight boxing card with a scintillating main event for the ages. The “greatest featherweight fight in history” was nothing short of amazing, with Jose Aldo defeating Chad Mendes for the second time after knocking out “Money” at UFC 142 almost three years ago. The battle was full of wild punches, eye pokes, a lot of heavy breathing, and at times, flying shit that didn’t land.

With a certain “joker” sitting cageside, let’s examine UFC 179, and why it was great and equally pathetic…

CagePotato liveblogger Alex Giardini will be posting live round-by-round results from the main card after the jump starting at 10 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. PT. Refresh the page for all the latest UFC 179 results, and hit us with your own thoughts in the comments section or on twitter @cagepotatomma. Thanks for stopping by.

MMA is the ultimate “nice guys finish last” sport. It’s called prize fighting for a reason, and “I respect him; he’s a great opponent” doesn’t sell.

This is no secret. Just look at how Chael Sonnen—a perennial mid-carder who nobody knew or cared about—resurrected his career with carefully executed, bombastic trash talk.

Why am I telling you this if it’s common sense? Because it’s only common sense to people who appreciate MMA for what it is—real-life pro wrestling. Unfortunately, most hardcore MMA fans (and some media members) refuse to see it this way. They either believe in a non-existent code of honor, or an even less corporeal competitive architecture. “It’s a sport,” they maintain. “It should be only about competition. Besides, who wouldn’t want to see the best fighters go at it, even if they have less charisma than a light bulb?” The answer to that question: Most of the country.

There’s a sport with no flash, no glitz, and none of the other maligned “entertainment” trappings of the UFC and the WWE. It’s called amateur wrestling, and nobody watches it. MMA turning into amateur wrestling hurts the fighters. If there’s no viewers, there’s no money. It’s crazy that people still need to be reminded of this, but selling the fight is equally as important as fighting the fight. To quote The Simpsons, “Every good scientist is half B.F. Skinner and half P.T. Barnum.”

But today, we look forward. While Jon Jones‘ victory over Glover Teixeira can only mean that a highly-anticipated rematch with Alexander Gustafsson is surely on the horizon (a rare instance of the MMA Gods actually granting us a wish with no strings attached *fingers crossed*), there are still several potential matchups worth discussing, so let’s see what the future holds for UFC 172′s biggest winners and losers…

Anthony Johnson: What can you say about “Rumble” that hasn’t already been said? He looked damn-near perfect against Phil Davis, shutting down the four-time NCAA Division I All-American’s takedown attempts with ease and making him look like even more of an amateur on the feet. After two rounds had passed, we were all left wondering how Davis was ever considered the favorite heading into this matchup, and when/if Johnson’s gas tank would expire. It never did, and in his first fight back in the UFC since 2012, Johnson firmly established himself as a top contender at 205 lbs.

Personally, I think “Rumble” should use this opportunity to finally call out GSP, but a match against the Ryan Bader-Rafael Cavalcante winner probably makes more sense from a logistical standpoint. Bader has become a weigh-station for future contenders over the years (and I say that with all due respect), so should he get past “Feijao” at UFC 174, he would make for a fine addition to Johnson’s highlight reel (again, with all due respect). And if Cavalcante emerges with the W, you’ve got yourself a slugfest for the ages right there.